The most frequently question I get when I'm up in the Great Hall with the Cup is:

Is that the "Real" Stanley Cup or what?

So I'm going to answer it here for you because this is a little known fact within the hockey world. The thing is there are 3 official Stanley Cups. There is the original bowl, which Lord Stanley himself bought and donated to hockey back in 1893 for $50. The NHL in 1962/63 decided to re-design the Cup because the original bowl couldn't take much more abuse and they wanted to engrave all the names on it, so they created what is known as the Presentation Cup. This is the Cup that you see presented to the players and consequently travels around with each Stanley Cup Champion for a day. And then in 1993 when the Hockey Hall of Fame moved from the CNE grounds in Toronto to BCE place and the old Bank of Montreal (first bank in Toronto built in 1886)they decided that there should always be a Stanley Cup on display for the fans when the Presentation Cup is not available, so they created what we know as the HHOF Cup.

So in the Great Hall there will always be two Stanley Cups. On the pedestal either the Presentation Cup or the HHOF's Cup will be on display and in the vault, which you are allowed inside, there is the original bowl that Lord Stanley donated.

Now I mentioned before that the Presentation Cup travels with which ever member of the winning team has it. But after each member has had it for a day, it has it's own schedule where it goes to All Star games (from the minor leagues to the NHL), Pee-Wee hockey tournaments, promo events for various NHL clubs, special ceremonies, etc. So it is not in the Hall of Fame that often.

Because I don't want anyone to feel cheated if they come to the HHOF and the HHOF Cup is on display, I want them to know it is almost exactly the same as the Presentation Cup. It is updated at exactly the same time, same material and so forth. The only difference is that the mistakes on the Cup that people hear about are all on the Presentation Cup. So for example you'll see that the last time the Boston Bruins won in 1972, they spelt Boston, "BQSTQN". There are various other mistakes like that on that Cup which I'll make a blog on at a different time. Other than that, the two Cups are exactly the same.

So there you have it, the long answer to the question I hear the most. Now hopefully when you come in we can spend more time about the history of the Cup and who might win the Cup rather if the Cup is real or not. Regardless, it's always fun to talk hockey.

April 16, 2007 8:20 PM ET
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Cool. To comment about being cheated though, I still do. I would like to be in the presence of the very cup that ways hoisted over Gretzky’s head. Still the HHOF is an awesome attraction for the city.